The despotism of Augustus prepared the Romans for Tiberius. If the
whole tone of their character had not first been prostrated by
nearly two generations of that mild slavery, they would probably
have had spirit enough left to rebel against the more odious one.

  There is no difficulty in showing that the ideally best form of
government is that in which the sovereignty, or supreme controlling
power in the last resort, is vested in the entire aggregate of the
community; every citizen not only having a voice in the exercise of
that ultimate sovereignty, but being, at least occasionally, called on
to take an actual part in the government, by the personal discharge of
some public function, local or general.

  To test this proposition, it has to be examined in reference to
the two branches into which, as pointed out in the last chapter, the
inquiry into the goodness of a government conveniently divides itself,
namely, how far it promotes the good management of the affairs of
society by means of the existing faculties, moral, intellectual, and
active, of its various members, and what is its effect in improving or
deteriorating those faculties.

  The ideally best form of government, it is scarcely necessary to
say, does not mean one which is practicable or eligible in all
states of civilisation, but the one which, in the circumstances in
which it is practicable and eligible, is attended with the greatest
amount of beneficial consequences, immediate and prospective. A
completely popular government is the only polity which can make out
any claim to this character. It is pre-eminent in both the departments
between which the excellence of a political constitution is divided.
It is both more favourable to present good government, and promotes
a better and higher form of national character, than any other
polity whatsoever.

  Its superiority in reference to present well-being rests upon two
principles, of as universal truth and applicability as any general
propositions which can be laid down respecting human affairs. The
first is, that the rights and interests of every or any person are
only secure from being disregarded when the person interested is
himself able, and habitually disposed, to stand up for them. The
second is, that the general prosperity attains a greater height, and
is more widely diffused, in proportion to the amount and variety of
the personal energies enlisted in promoting it.

  Putting these two propositions into a shape more special to their
present application; human beings are only secure from evil at the
hands of others in proportion as they have the power of being, and
are, self-protecting; and they only achieve a high degree of success
in their struggle with Nature in proportion as they are
self-dependent, relying on what they themselves can do, either
separately or in concert, rather than on what others do for them.

  The former proposition- that each is the only safe guardian of his
own rights and interests- is one of those elementary maxims of
prudence, which every person, capable of conducting his own affairs,
implicitly acts upon, wherever he himself is interested. Many, indeed,
have a great dislike to it as a political doctrine, and are fond of
holding it up to obloquy, as a doctrine of universal selfishness. To
which we may answer, that whenever it ceases to be true that
mankind, as a rule, prefer themselves to others, and those nearest
to them to those more remote, from that moment Communism is not only
practicable, but the only defensible form of society; and will, when
that time arrives, be assuredly carried into effect. For my own
part, not believing in universal selfishness, I have no difficulty
in admitting that Communism would even now be practicable among the
elite of mankind, and may become so among the rest. But as this
opinion is anything but popular with those defenders of existing
institutions who find fault with the doctrine of the general
predominance of self-interest, I am inclined to think they do in
reality believe that most men consider themselves before other people.
It is not, however, necessary to affirm even thus much in order to
support the claim of all to participate in the sovereign power. We
need not suppose that when power resides in an exclusive class, that
class will knowingly and deliberately sacrifice the other classes to
themselves: it suffices that, in the absence of its natural defenders,
the interest of the excluded is always in danger of being
overlooked; and, when looked at, is seen with very different eyes from
those of the persons whom it directly concerns.

  In this country, for example, what are called the working classes
may be considered as excluded from all direct participation in the
government. I do not believe that the classes who do participate in it
have in general any intention of sacrificing the working classes to
themselves. They once had that intention; witness the persevering
attempts so long made to keep down wages by law. But in the present
day their ordinary disposition is the very opposite: they willingly
make considerable sacrifices, especially of their pecuniary
interest, for the benefit of the working classes, and err rather by
too lavish and indiscriminating beneficence; nor do I believe that any
rulers in history have been actuated by a more sincere desire to do
their duty towards the poorer portion of their countrymen. Yet does
Parliament, or almost any of the members composing it, ever for an
instant look at any question with the eyes of a working man? When a
subject arises in which the labourers as such have an interest, is
it regarded from any point of view but that of the employers of
labour? I do not say that the working men's view of these questions is
in general nearer to the truth than the other: but it is sometimes
quite as near; and in any case it ought to be respectfully listened
to, instead of being, as it is, not merely turned away from, but
ignored. On the question of strikes, for instance, it is doubtful if
there is so much as one among the leading members of either House